The Tribless Mercenary
by Dark-Automaton
Summary: 10 years before Chaotic players began visiting Perim, there was a small family. The daughter, Mary, became the first human in Perim. However, under no circumstances is she a Mary-Sue, and she isn't exactly a hero either.[on Hiatus due to writer's block, sorry]
1. Prologue

AN:_ I don't own Chaotic, not the TV show, not the game, none of it.__ However__, I will be showing some OCs here or there. One more thing*, this takes place about 10 years before humans began showing up in Perim and 5 years prior to Chaotic, so don't nag on me for getting ages(or any other time related things) right. _

_BTW, a very good song to play while reading this is Mad Father's "Drevis Residence", to get the proper feeling.  
_

**The Tribeless Mercenary: Prologue**

Daniel Guertena* was a brilliant engineer and inventor. He invented many useful machines in his career, all of which made him very wealthy. However, he would give it all up just for his wife and little girl.

He immigrated from Germany, and even taught his daughter German as a second language. Despite the good things he has done, he is often harassed by racists who want him to leave the country, and his company's competition too.

Elenore Guertena was a brilliant doctor. She's always had a flair for trying new things, and never gave up on her goals. With this enthusiasm, she concocted various life-saving medicines for mankind, at the cost of a few lab-rats of course.

The animal rights activists, despite the good she has done, want her head on a stake.

Maryanne Guertena was a brilliant student. She inherited her mother's determination and her father's problem solving abilities. She always got amazing grades in chemistry, mechanics, mathematics, biology, and psychology.

However, those against her parents had a tendency to bribe the teachers into punishing her for no good reason. That is, if they don't attack or harass her directly.

Despite these horrible things happening to them, they were a happy family.

They were also very mysterious. Nobody knew what part of Germany Daniel was from, nor did they know Elenore's origin. They never really talked to anyone, and they lived in a very secluded piece of land.

And nobody knew their secret.

You see, the Guertena's weren't exactly philanthropists. They never did much for charities, foundations, or anything of the like. And if someone decided to mess with them, that someone wouldn't be heard from for quite some time, if ever again.

* * *

AN: _A short prologue for my newest series, The Tribeless Mercenary. At first it was going to have "Storyteller" instead of "Mercenary," but I decided a warrior was cooler than someone who recites stories we already know to creatures that we don't._

_* Guess where I got that from._

_* A reference to Ib, which I don't own._

_Oh yeah, and there's going to be __a lot__ of Mad Father and Ib references in this. What can I say, they're both very good games.  
_


	2. The Otherworlder

AN:_ I don't own Chaotic, not the TV show, not the game, none of it.__ However__, I will be showing some OCs here or there. One more thing, this takes place about 10 years before humans began showing up in Perim and 5 years prior to Chaotic, so don't nag on me for getting ages(or any other time related things) right._

**The Tribeless Mercenary: Chapter 1**

It was just like any other day in the autumn, too warm to wear a coat, but too much windchill to go jacket-less. It was in late August when Mary was hitting the turbo on her bike from her high-school.

She did _not_ want to go to another tedious pep-rally, where all they do is advertise the school merchandise and sing praises the principle's favorites. Mary did this kind of thing often, almost to the point where she could go professional.

Before she got to her house, she stopped by her dad's work building to see if he could lend her his house keys, as she left hers at the school. She didn't bother to take off her book-bag. While it was still heavy with books on all her favorite subjects*, it wasn't something she couldn't handle.

Her dad was sitting in his office, and when he was asked about his keys, "Oh, I left them on the table in the lab. Take the elevator down a floor and walk to the furthermost door to the west."

She thanked her dad before giving him a small hug. She proceeded to walk down the corridor to the elevator, and summoned it. After getting into the slightly cramped vessel, she pushed the button with "1B" on it. The elevator shook and chattered, showing it's need for repair, as she descended into the lower levels of her dad's workplace.

What was the company called? Chaos Inc.?

It took a surprisingly long time to go just one floor down, but the elevator managed to make a stop on a shoddily lit hallway. There were no indications that this was floor "1B", but Mary assumed that it was, and pressed onward. She walked to the western side of the corridor, and found the room she was looking for.

She waltzed into the room, and to her surprise, there was her dad's latest project. It was a huge machine, with several circuit boards and wires connecting them. She really should have listened to the phrase "Curiosity killed the cat." Mary foolishly touched one of the many buttons on the assumed control board.

There was a flash of blue and numbers, filling the dark room with a bright light. Mary fought with all her might, but couldn't keep herself from being carried into the air, and suddenly disappearing into thin air. Or so it seemed.

* * *

-Kiru city-

Intress was supervising her adopted daughter Aivenna's training in the large battle training facility. The younger Overworlder was making a lot of progress in her battle skills, and she wasn't even old enough to marry yet! And the cat-like warrioress didn't even try to hide her pride over the kid. "Wonderful job Aivenna, you might even succeed me in battle skills."

Aivenna found this kind of attention nerve-wrecking, as it wouldn't give her much breathing room. To alleviate this, she kept as modest about it as possible, "It wasn't much, really."

Intress was about to respond, but she was cut off by a Overworld guard tapping on her shoulder. He handed his superior a parchment, which said:

_Greetings Intress,_

_We've found a strange creature not far from the city wall, and need_

_your opinion on what to do with it. All we can say is that it is definitely _

_not a Mipedian or Danian, and is a young female. I haven't gotten word on _

_it's condition, but I was told that it was unconscious for at least an hour before_

_being discovered. See you at the northernmost clinic._

_-__Tangath Toborn_

So, it was good ol' fuzz-face again, dragging her away from training just to take a look at an injured outsider. Intress doubted that it was an Underworlder, as every other time, it was someone from a secluded village or whatnot. The Overworld is filled with folks, and came in quite the variety of sizes and shapes. Heck, she's even seen a dinosaur that counted as a Overworlder.

She dismissed Aivenna and went to the clinic that Tangath had instructed her to go to. She greeted her old friend and was lead to the room that this "strange creature" was resting in. Intress was underwhelmed at the creature's appearance.

The creature was no doubt a female, maybe 26-30 solans* old. The girl was absolutely tiny, only a mere 5 1/2 feet tall*. The girl had pinkish-beige skin, and ebony hair. She had very odd looking clothes, a white long-sleeve blouse with an odd symbol on it, a gray hooded jacket, and long black pants.

Intress studied the weird girl from a slight distance, before impatiently asking,

"When do you believe she'll wake up?"

The nearby healer told her that "The girl should awaken in maybe an hour or two, for now we should let her rest." Intress nodded and sat on a chair in the room to watch over the girl.

Before long, the girl began to stir. Intress noticed this right away, and signaled the healer back into the room. The girl was waking up rather slowly, a little bit too slow for Intress' taste. The girl was at first groggy, and then panicking.

The girl seemed reluctant to speak, and seemed frightened. The girl then began questioning her surroundings, as if she didn't know anything about Perimians.

It wasn't something an Underworlder would do, as they would simply try to fight their way out, but it wasn't Overworlder's behavior either. No Overworlder would panic at the sight of her own people, not like that.

When the girl finally calmed own, it was time for an interview. Tangath decided that it wouldn't be appropriate to be harsh on a youngster, so he took a calm approach.

"What is your name, young one?"

"Uh, my family name is Guertena."

"Where are you from?"

"Not here, that's for sure..."

"Is that in the Overworld, or the Underworld?"

"What's the Underworld?"

The two cat-like Overworlders were genuinely surprised to hear such a thing. In most Overworld villages and cities, children were taught about the Underworld at a fairly young age, and hearing a girl as old as Intress' surrogate daughter not know what it is was very strange.

"The Underworld is a subterranean land, it's home to two tribes, the Underworlders and the Danians." Tangath explained.

"I don't think my home is in this 'Underworld' then; I distinctly remember there being a sun."

Well, that was one problem solved, but then the girl added "However, I don't remember there being people with green skin, pointed ears, or fur where I'm from either."

"Then what is your tribe?"

"Tribe?"

That kid didn't even know what a tribe is! She must be from one strange community to not know about the 4 tribes of Perim. Intress decided to add,

"Guertena, is it? Do you know anything about Perim? Or are you just _extremely_ sheltered?"

"I'm not sheltered! My parents are respectable scientists, but they wouldn't go that far to shelter their kid."

"Scientists? What do they study?" Tangath took over once more, signaling Intress to stand down.

"My dad's an inventor, and my mom tests and makes medicine."

Mary then began a small story on how their house was almost vandalized by zealous animal lovers and "tree-huggers" for her parent's actions, and how she scared them off with a miniature chainsaw.

"Those idiots were screaming like little girls! Ha!"

The creatures didn't seem all that surprised, in Perim, beating the hell out of intruders was a socially acceptable action, if not _expected_. What did surprise them was the equipment the people of this "Guertena" used. Spray-able paint and saws that cut with such little effort were not heard of in their world.

"Two more questions for the day, and then you can continue resting. Are you from Perim, or another realm? And what do they call people in your home?"

Mary wasn't sure if she should tell these creatures too much, so she came up with something,

"I'm from a place with one world and many nations; my people are called Otherworlders."

Well, that explains a lot. She wasn't an actual Perimian, but an "Otherworlder". Whatever an Otherworlder is, it's certainly less dangerous than an Underworlder. Tangath had promised Mary that today was done, but he did mention returning for more questions tomorrow.

Tangath and Intress left the room, and began discussing the girl's interview.

"What do we do about her? While I can certainly tell she isn't a threat individually, what about her elders?" Intress asked, worrying about the new people's friendliness.

How far would they go to retrieve their member? Intress knew that the Overworld would go to extremes to rescue one of their own, and with the behavior of this girl being similar to an Overworld teen, the adults would probably do what Perimians would.

"We could always forge a treaty, besides, we haven't gotten any word from the scouts about any similar beings running about. They may have not discovered her disappearance yet. If they do put up a fight, it won't be something we can't handle, anyhow."

Intress was then dismissed with a new task, give a report to Maxxor. Maxxor was always a good friend, even if he could be a little hot-headed sometimes. Intress did as she was asked, and ran over to the royal palace. She was allowed in by the door-guards and escorted to the study. She greeted Maxxor with a respectful salute, and reported,

"We've found a strange girl just outside the walls of the city, according to the interview, she's not from Perim at all."

"Where is she from, then?" Maxxor asked with curiosity in his voice; this wasn't exactly common.

"She said that she's from an entirely different world. From what I heard, there's no Underworld there."

"Strange, any more information?"

Intress handed a written down recording of the interview, a picture of the girl, and a description of the girl's condition. Maxxor was slightly perplexed at the odd appearance of the girl. Was that picture on her blouse a national symbol? Maybe they could ask her later.

"So, do you have any leads to how she got here? I'm quite certain that she didn't just magically appear here by herself."

While everyone knew about Mugic, the Perimians still had their limits. It would take a lot of power in order to move from one world into another. Heck, getting to the Underworld with machines took a lot of skill. How a teenager got all the way into another realm with no equipment is a rather ridiculous concept.

"Perhaps she was sent here by accident, or by those men against her family." Intress theorized.

Maxxor was reading through the file himself when he heard Intress' theories. From what he could imagine, the girl probably wound up messing with some sort of highly advanced magic or machinery. Now the problem was how to find proof. For now, they had to wait until tomorrow.

* * *

AN:_This chapter is highly experimental, since I got advice from jameygamer(awesome writer BTW) that pointed out my lack of metaphors. I've been trying to improve my writing skills by reading more stories from this website._

_*1. 1 solan = ½ a human year. So in other words, they think she's 13-15 years old. I'd put her age at 14____½_.  


_*2. The average height for a creature is somewhere around 7 or 8 feet tall, and last time I checked, those guys tended to look at us like we would look at leprechauns or elves._

_I've always thought that those creatures thought of humans as we used to think of fair folk. I wonder, if the Chaotic players disappeared for a hundred years or so, would the creatures dismiss them as fairy tales?_


	3. Apprenticeship

AN:_ I don't own Chaotic, not the TV show, not the game, none of it. However, I will be showing some OCs here or there. One more thing, this takes place about 10 years before humans began showing up in Perim and 5 years prior to Chaotic, so don't nag on me for getting ages(or any other time related things) right._

**The Tribeless Mercenary: Chapter 2**

Once again, in the late morning, the strange folks came to interview Mary again. Mary was quite intrigued by these creatures, and found it somewhat amusing that they referred to themselves as such.

"So, Guertena, how did you travel from your father's workplace to another realm and not know it?" Tangath asked.

Mary had just told the entire story to them; she went to her father's work-building, touched one of her father's inventions, and somehow got transported to Perim.

"Well, my dad is quite the genius. He rarely lets me in on his most impressive works until they are finished."

"I see. So, it was an accident?"

Mary nodded in the affirmative. Now all the Overworlders needed to do was find something for the Otherworlder to do until this is sorted out. Intress pulled her friend aside so that the kid won't hear them,

"I have an idea; isn't Mommark looking for a new helper in his laboratory? I mean, while he is in a rather secluded area, he still won't do anything major to her. Worst case scenario: he takes a blood sample."

Tangath didn't have any better ideas, so he reluctantly agreed. They walked back into the room to catch Guertena reading one of the medical manuals, provided to her by one of the healers.

"It's all we have for her to read. And she doesn't seem to mind a bit." the nurse explained.

Mary was absolutely fascinated by the "Overworld." It was like going to another country, but like an RPG! This almost made her forget about how much she missed her parents...

But that wasn't going to get her down! Until the day her dad builds a machine to bring her back, she'll keep studying these Perimians. It was almost like that time she got a new bunny for her to study.

At least, that's what she thought it was for.

"Wow, there should be more students with that much enthusiasm. She's already halfway through, and it's been five minutes!" one of the doctors gossiped to a nurse, who silently agreed.

"Back to your stations, you two." Intress told the talkers. The medical professionals didn't want to mess with one of the Overworld's greatest, so they did as they were told.

Tangath went back to his inquiries on the Otherworld, but got only a few vague descriptions of it's military and population. And instead of clear answers, he got more questions about Perim.

"Is there magic in this realm?"

"It's called Mugic, not sure how that's important."

"Hey, you wanted to know stuff about the Otherworld's military forces. And I wasn't joking about the many nations."

"Then how many are there?"

"Over 120."

That came as quite a surprise. Now, in order to forge an alliance between the Otherworlders and Overworlders, they'd have to write _over 120 treaties_. That's going to give Maxxor one hell of a headache.

Intress decided that now was a good time to give the apprenticeship offer,

"Guertena, we have made an agreement; until your people find a way to bring you back home, you should take up a temporary job here, in the Overworld. And we've already found something that you would most certainly enjoy.

"An apprenticeship with the famous geneticist Mommark. He needs assistance with maintaining the equipment in his laboratory, as well as someone to run errands. In return, he'll give you a place to stay until further notice."

Mary was rather confused. Why would a geneticist need an apprentice? Whatever, it was something to do until she got home, and she may get extra credit for working with a scientist. "Sure, until my dad brings me home."

The Overworlders decided that it would be a good idea to get her normal clothes so that she wouldn't draw too much attention. She wound up receiving some of Aivenna's old clothes from when she was in her first school*, a gray tunic over black pants and leather boots*.

They brought her out of the clinic to send her over to a waiting vehicle. Mary was quite stunned at the large city. Everything looked as if it was made of some kind of sand-colored stone and other materials. The people looked not unlike the doctors in the clinic, but with more casual looking clothes.

The air smelled of various spices, and Mary could've sworn that she could hear music in the distance. If she told her cultural studies teacher about this, he'd be foaming at the mouth! Now she wanted to study their culture too, which is much easier than anatomy.

If what the cat woman said was true, then Mary would be traveling here every so often with another assistant to run some errands. If there's enough time, she could spare a library visit or two.

The vehicle they entered wasn't all that odd looking. It looked kind of like a large jeep, large enough to fit these creatures. Mary was put in the back seat with a sort of soldier beside her.

He looked no different from any of the other ones in the city. "_Hm, maybe they have invented safe cloning._" Mary thought.

The drive was very long and very bumpy. As she was driving, Intress wondered whether or not the Otherworld girl was hiding something. The girl seemed to tell the truth about everything; besides the name of her people, that was obviously a lie.

Who would call their own people "Otherworlders"? Someone who is either a bit paranoid, or their people have too many names to count. Intress was pretty sure that it was some sort of combination of the two.

After nearly breaking down twice, the ragged vehicle came to a shuddering stop. Mary got out last after the larger creatures, since they weren't strapped into a children's booster seat.

They were now on a path within a large forest. Over the canopy, Mary could see the top of a large castle or tower. Gray stones covered the path as they walked the rest of the way to the laboratory. It had gray brick walls and some sort of metal roof, and had a foreboding atmosphere.

Looks like the storm trooper noticed Mary's unsettled expression,

"Don't worry kid, he isn't going to bite. He can't even fight properly. Just try to behave, and he wont' sick his pets on you."

"Pet? I'm not a pet!" a bull-like creature stepped out from the shadows.

"It's called a joke, Taurus. He's just trying to calm your new coworker down." Intress pointed out. Fighting in front of a possible ally could easily prove disastrous.

Taurus didn't look pleased one bit. How could a tiny creature like this possibly be of any use? The best she could probably do is clean the bookshelves. He took a look at his "new coworker" with curiosity, though.

"Why is a _first-schooler_ becoming my 'coworker'?" he asked.

"She's from another world, and until we can return her to her home, she will be Mommark's apprentice." Intress answered, and then clarified the whole situation for him to relay to Mommark.

This was new. First Gespedan gets a position as a Scout, and now some kid from another world is coming to work with Mommark. This week was getting more and more interesting by the day.

Meanwhile, Mary was just gaping at this "Taurus". Perimians sure had a flair for names. Must be cultural thing, and another mystery to solve. Taurus did seem to notice, but decided not to chide this weird little creature.

"_Better fix the first impression, Taurus._" Intress said in her head.

"So, what in the Underworld do we do with you?" Taurus said in a very condescending tone.

"_What else could I expect?_" Intress silently face-palmed.

Mary gulped, she wasn't sure if she should or shouldn't answer. She just stared at him blankly for awhile, before he thought of what she should do. He then said something about this geneticist taking blood samples, and Mary having to clean the syringes.

Hearing that, Intress and the Overworld guard went back to Kiru city via crummy-jeep-like-vehicle.

Easy enough. Mary had practiced the basic syringe sanitation procedures many times. She took the syringe apart into three pieces; the needle, the main storage casing, and the plunger. She began to clean each piece individually. This made for a surprised Taurus.

How the heck did she know that? Even Mommark himself would get a prick or two from cleaning those damned contraptions, and some "Otherworlder" comes and does it with no effort. Maybe she was a doctor's apprentice before?

Contemplations aside, the Otherworld kid finished in record time. By the time she finished the third and started the fourth, Mommark entered the room, his coat slightly stained with some sort of red liquid. Most likely blood.

Taurus explained the child's presence, and that Intress herself brought her here. Mommark didn't seem very pleased, but he wasn't really all that angry either. He was more curious about these "Otherworlders".

Mary noticed the odd creature approaching, and gave a polite bow of the head before continuing her work. Mommark had to ask Taurus,

"Has she pricked herself on the needles?"

"No, she seems to know what she's doing."

"Damn, that means I have to _ask_ for a blood sample."

30 cleaned syringes later, it was the evening.

From this day onward, Mary got new jobs around the lab. She would dust the shelves, clean the jars and beakers, replace the preservatives, and run errands with Taurus. In return, she was tought about Perim and it's people. With time, she grown up to become a very competent helper.

However, the teachings of Mommark and Kiru city's library did not satiate her quest for knowledge of this realm. The information was clearly biased in the Overworld's favor, and it lacked much information on the other tribes.

But that wouldn't stop Mary. No obstacle, great or small, could keep her from the truth.

Even if it costed lives.

* * *

AN: _And that is the second chapter of The Tribeless Mercenary. Now, you may be thinking, why are the Overworlders underestimating Mary? Well, they are too busy being civil to her so that they could easily become allies with the "Otherworlders." Either way, please review._

_*1. Perim's equivalent to elementary school._

_*2. Last time I checked, Aivenna has hooves. So to clarify, the boots were from someone else's kid._

_Just to let you guys know, there will be a three year time skip in the next chapter._


End file.
